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This might have been Karma.The Angus club were asked to play the game several weeks ago and refused which they can do of course,but the chosen night was perfect for football,so maybe they should have played after all when Stranraer asked them

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This might have been Karma.The Angus club were asked to play the game several weeks ago and refused which they can do of course,but the chosen night was perfect for football,so maybe they should have played after all when Stranraer asked them

Here was me thinking it was the SPFL who decided the dates . Don't know why I thought that.

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Either way it doesn't alter the common sense approach to yesterday's shambles.

Hedge,if you care to listen to the excellent Stranraer FC podcast It's no easy,you will hear how Stranraer FC hands are very much tied.I for one didn't know the rules and thought Stranraer had a say in the cancellation,they didn't and the officials at Stranraer followed the rules to a tee,the ref arrived early and cancelled the game.Seemingly the SPFL don't go by forecasts,in the this day and age I find that strange,but it's now in the past and we move on.

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Is that the same common sense that perhaps could have been applied to playing the fixture on the date offered during the mildest January anyone can recall?

If that was indeed the case I would say yes . There must have been a valid reason why Brechin couldn't fulfill that fixture. That said , I can't recall any mention of the fixture being announced in January and no fuss being made at the time if Brechin did actually turn it down.

My thoughts at the time of the original postponement were to look for a free Saturday , possibly a cup weekend but you lot were still in the cup and there were no international breaks either.

It's a long hike midweek at the best of times and the point I and a few others were making was that it might have been more sensible to put it back a week or so given the exceptional circumstances . But as Car 54 said, sadly your club's hands were tied due to the authorities refusal to embrace technology.

I accept this now but still shake my head in disappointment that the dinosaurs are never willing to alter their stance on anything .

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If that was indeed the case I would say yes . There must have been a valid reason why Brechin couldn't fulfill that fixture. That said , I can't recall any mention of the fixture being announced in January and no fuss being made at the time if Brechin did actually turn it down.

My thoughts at the time of the original postponement were to look for a free Saturday , possibly a cup weekend but you lot were still in the cup and there were no international breaks either.

It's a long hike midweek at the best of times and the point I and a few others were making was that it might have been more sensible to put it back a week or so given the exceptional circumstances . But as Car 54 said, sadly your club's hands were tied due to the authorities refusal to embrace technology.

I accept this now but still shake my head in disappointment that the dinosaurs are never willing to alter their stance on anything .

Your right hedge a long trek,Stranraer have been in Angus 8 times this season,you boys up there have had it easy in travelling terms.

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Hedge,if you care to listen to the excellent Stranraer FC podcast It's no easy,you will hear how Stranraer FC hands are very much tied.I for one didn't know the rules and thought Stranraer had a say in the cancellation,they didn't and the officials at Stranraer followed the rules to a tee,the ref arrived early and cancelled the game.Seemingly the SPFL don't go by forecasts,in the this day and age I find that strange,but it's now in the past and we move on.

Why didn't Stranraer officials contact the SPFL for an earlier inspection? It's up to the club advise an inspection is required, the SPFL aren't to blame, as much as you desperately want them to be. Why did Stranraer sit with their thumbs up their arse until the match ref arrived?

If the Stranraer officials need any advice on how it works I'm sure we'd be willing to help out...

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Why didn't Stranraer officials contact the SPFL for an earlier inspection? It's up to the club advise an inspection is required, the SPFL aren't to blame, as much as you desperately want them to be. Why did Stranraer sit with their thumbs up their arse until the match ref arrived?

If the Stranraer officials need any advice on how it works I'm sure we'd be willing to help out...

An earlier inspection wouldn't have made any difference in this case, see the post from Blue Moon in this thread quoted below,

"Not trying to play anything down. We saw the forecast same as everyone else. Discussed with SPFL and Brechin and everyone knew about risk to the fixture.
What we did was inspect at 10am, 12 noon and 3.30pm and on each occasion, as the forecasted weather had yet to arrive, the pitch and conditions were playable.
Could have called in a referee on each occasion and it would have passed fit.
A local referee was on standby after the third inspection should things have deteriorated but this was superseded when the match referee arrived early and inspected, postponing the fixture at around 5.30pm."

Anyway this fixture has been rearranged for Tuesday 26 March, kickoff is 7.45pm.

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An earlier inspection wouldn't have made any difference in this case, see the post from Blue Moon in this thread quoted below, "Not trying to play anything down. We saw the forecast same as everyone else. Discussed with SPFL and Brechin and everyone knew about risk to the fixture. What we did was inspect at 10am, 12 noon and 3.30pm and on each occasion, as the forecasted weather had yet to arrive, the pitch and conditions were playable. Could have called in a referee on each occasion and it would have passed fit. A local referee was on standby after the third inspection should things have deteriorated but this was superseded when the match referee arrived early and inspected, postponing the fixture at around 5.30pm." Anyway this fixture has been rearranged for Tuesday 26 March, kickoff is 7.45pm.

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Well it is really. It is up to the spfl to change the rules to allow a game to be postponed if there is a bad forecast. At the moment a referee can only judge by the conditions which prevail at the time of the inspection. If they are ok he can't postpone. Equally the club can't unilaterally postpone on the basis of a bad weather forecast. So it is up to the spfl to change the system so that even if the pitch and conditions are fine at noon a match can be postponed if the forecast is for bad weather in the evening. Only the spfl can do that

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Why didn't Stranraer officials contact the SPFL for an earlier inspection? It's up to the club advise an inspection is required, the SPFL aren't to blame, as much as you desperately want them to be. Why did Stranraer sit with their thumbs up their arse until the match ref arrived?

If the Stranraer officials need any advice on how it works I'm sure we'd be willing to help out...

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Not trying to play anything down. We saw the forecast same as everyone else. Discussed with SPFL and Brechin and everyone knew about risk to the fixture.What we did was inspect at 10am, 12 noon and 3.30pm and on each occasion, as the forecasted weather had yet to arrive, the pitch and conditions were playable.Could have called in a referee on each occasion and it would have passed fit.A local referee was on standby after the third inspection should things have deteriorated but this was superseded when the match referee arrived early and inspected, postponing the fixture at around 5.30pm.

We followed the rules and protocols available to us. Not sure what else is expected.Incidentally the same rules and protocols that Arbroath followed when we travelled there last month. So we have experienced this from the away side perspective too.

If the rules are wrong, that’s a different conversation, and one for the clubs to have, but as they are we followed them.Can’t see what more our club could have done in today’s circumstances.

The rules are wrong!

You said that there were three early inspections, but that that the forecast weather hadn’t arrived. But the forecast proved accurate. It was clear from this that the conditions weren’t going to be playable at the scheduled time. So the rules should have allowed an early call-off, to prevent players and fans having to travel unnecessarily.

In your later post you said that early call offs would have meant five games which were actually played being cancelled. Would this have mattered? They could have been rescheduled at a later date.

TBH it would be better for fans if we didn’t have Tuesday night games in the depth of winter. In answer to the objection on when these games would be fitted in given the number of games that have to be played two responses:

1. The weather is much better in April and May. (I can remember one season in the early 70s when we had to play Monday, Wednesday and Saturday for a couple of weeks. Bumper shirt-sleeved crowds at Stair Park!

2. Return the Challenge Cup to the original format to reduce the number of games. (Or even abolish, since it now has zero credibility.)

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Well it is really. It is up to the spfl to change the rules to allow a game to be postponed if there is a bad forecast. At the moment a referee can only judge by the conditions which prevail at the time of the inspection. If they are ok he can't postpone. Equally the club can't unilaterally postpone on the basis of a bad weather forecast. So it is up to the spfl to change the system so that even if the pitch and conditions are fine at noon a match can be postponed if the forecast is for bad weather in the evening. Only the spfl can do that

Where is it in the rules that a forecast can't be taken into consideration? For example is it against the rules for a ref to deem a pitch in an ok condition but with further rain forecast all day the best decision would be to call it off?

Where is it in the rules that a forecast can't be taken into consideration? For example is it against the rules for a ref to deem a pitch in an ok condition but with further rain forecast all day the best decision would be to call it off?

I think a few sensible refs and club officials do actually take this into consideration . On the other hand I have also witnessed quite the opposite where a pitch is 90%-95% playable on the initial inspection and the forecast is good , but the ref calls it off .

There are no rules as such but refs have guidelines to follow . A few follow these guidelines to the letter. These are usually the ones you see getting fast tracked.